


Untouchable

by hanky16



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:09:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22123876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanky16/pseuds/hanky16
Summary: Dylan Strome hated always being compared to Connor McDavid.  He despised that no matter what he did, his success would always be second best to his former best friend.  Dylan is the only person who knows how this feels.
Relationships: Connor McDavid/Dylan Strome, Jack Eichel & Dylan Strome, Jack Eichel/Dylan Strome
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The dates line up with how the seasons went. Obviously there are dramatic liberties taken. 
> 
> Alex DeBrincat is a Buffalo Sabre.
> 
> This is not based on any real life scenarios.

Dylan Strome hated always being compared to Connor McDavid. He despised that no matter what he did, his success would always be second best to his former best friend. Dylan is the only person who knows how this feels.

The first season when he didn’t make the NHL was hard in more ways than one. The offseason was dedicated to training so when he didn’t hear from Connor all summer, Dylan just thought the other boy was to busy. When Dylan didn’t make the team out of camp the harsh blow was softened by Mitch, who just sent him a “I guess we can’t all be the chosen one” meme with Connors face photoshopped badly. Dylan watched Connor score his first NHL goal from the room in his billet house. The jealousy raked over him but he still sent a message to Connor, yet another unanswered message added to their text stream. When Connor scores his first hat trick, Dylan is sitting in a hotel room somewhere in Guelph and decides to call and congratulate. Dylan reaches a “This number is no longer in service message”. He tells Mitch about the abandoned number which sends Mitch on a long rant. Dylan barely pays attention and just focuses on the hurt he feels deep inside him. For the rest of the season, Dylan keeps his head down, plays hockey, and eventually loses to Mitch in the Memorial Cup.

The next season, Dylan doesn’t make the NHL but Mitch does. To his credit, Mitch sends him a gif of a sad dog but it doesn’t quell the feeling inside that reminds Dylan that he isn’t as good as the hometown boy who has come to save their favourite team. Over this season Dylan drifts away from Mitch. They drift apart in a “We hang out when we are in the same city otherwise we just send each other memes once in a while” way, not in a “Ghosted by his childhood best friend because he sucks at hockey” way. If Dylan still has a chip on his shoulder abut it? Who’s to say. Dylan keeps his head down, works hard, and wins the Memorial Cup that year. After they win and they get drunk in their hotel room, Alex DeBrincat leans over and whispers in his ear that Dylan finally has something the almighty Connor McDavid doesn’t have. 

The 2017 Draft is in Chicago and Dylan goes to support his brother and instead gets bombarded by questions of how proud he is that Connor McDavid led his team to the playoffs. He runs into Jack Eichel there, because apparently they exclusively see each other at NHL drafts, and notices that Jack looks like shit.

“You look like shit Eichs, which says a lot coming from how I always look like I don’t know what sleep is” chirps Dylan.

Jack rolls his eyes, keeps walking, and replies “What you done speaking to the masses about your better half?”

The comment stings Dylan more than he would like to admit but with a shaky breath replies “It’s hard to comment about the next coming of the hockey gods when the asshole decides to ghost you after you didn’t make the NHL your first season”.

Jack stops in his place and looks back, letting the words hang in the air for a second. “Shit man that sucks, at least when I get compared to him I don’t have to think of him as a person, I can just pretend he is an idea to make myself survive it. That’s a douche move on his part Stromer, we all know that Arizona’s system is screwing you over”.

Dylan Strome hated always being compared to Connor McDavid. He despised that no matter what he did, his success would always be second best to hockey’s once in a generational talent. Dylan is not the only person who knows how this feels.

That fall, Dylan thinks he finally breaks the NHL 2 years after he was drafted, but gets sent down to the AHL too quick for his liking. He likes the guys down in Tucson well enough but it’s still not the NHL. Dylan keeps getting mentioned in articles calling him a draft bust, how his draft class was the greatest the hockey world would ever see and look at them all succeeding and look at Dylan Strome in the AHL. After that particular article was released, Dylan gets a message from Jack Eichel who says that the Sabres are playing the Coyotes and that the duo was going to get dinner, no excuses. That’s how Dylan finds himself at a dive bar with Jack Eichel venting about how much they both hate this generations best hockey player to ever grace the ice. 

On November 28 2017, Dylan Strome gets called up and faces Connor McDavid on opposing teams for the first time. His head coach loves the head to head narrative so he sends Dylan out to take the opening faceoff. For the first time in over two years Dylan Strome looks in to Connor McDavid’s eyes; Dylan doesn’t recognise who looks back.

Before his “second” NHL season kicks off, Dylan gets traded to Buffalo. The team where Alex DeBrincat was drafted and plays for. The team where he found the person that embodies the phrase that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Dylan gets placed as the second line centre per Jacks command. Going into Christmas, Dylan leads the team in points. 

Dylan Strome and Jack Eichel have something to prove. They don’t want to always be considered number 2 to the savior of Edmonton. They are fuelled by spite and backed by a team that has their backs no matter what. 

On June 7 2018, the Buffalo Sabres win the Stanley Cup; the Oilers finished the season in last place. Jack Eichel wins the Conn Smythe and Dylan Strome would eventually win the Hart for his performance in the regular season. After hoisting the Cup for the first time in his career, Jack passes it to Dylan and they both yell into the camera that they aren’t number two anymore and to hell with The Chosen One. They now both have the one thing that the most praised player of their generation doesn’t. 

Dylan Strome and Jack Eichel proved their worth. They are no longer fuelled by spite and led the team that has backs no matter what to a Stanley Cup Championship. They are the best players in the league. They now both have the one thing that the most praised player of their generation doesn’t.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor McDavid knows he’s one of the best players to grace this planet and will not stand to be humiliated. Especially not by the boy who was made great by growing up next to him and the boy who wasn’t good enough to even be considered the number one pick.

Connor McDavid knows he’s one of the best players to grace this planet and will not stand to be humiliated. Especially not by the boy who was made great by growing up next to him and the boy who wasn’t good enough to even be considered the number one pick. Connor hates that he was disrespected by the two people who owe all their public image to him. Connor McDavid has the world at his finger tips and will not let this go. 

The Edmonton Oilers trade away many of their skilled guys for players that are often described as goons. Connor McDavid’s plan is just starting. He creates a locker room of players who would do anything for him, players that were just happy to get their shot in the NHL, players that treat their Captain like the hockey god that he knows he is. These new kids almost remind his of Dylan back in the day; they are sweet and desperate for the opportunity to play with him. Connor think that maybe he will keep them around after his plan.

This new and improved team Connor leads now quickly establishes a reputation for being a rough team. Going into the Christmas break Connor’s team has a reputation of making dirty hits but somehow still has one of the lowest season penalty minutes.

On January 14 2018 the Edmonton Oilers play the reigning Stanley Cup Champion at Rogers Place. Jack Eichel smirks as he skates up to take the opening faceoff and says “What does it feel like to have no Stanley Cup rings? I don’t remember anymore”. From the bench Dylan sees something unfamiliar flash through Connors demeanor. Dylan doesn’t like the feeling it gives him. Alex DeBrincat leaves the game after being on the receiving end of a late check. The player that hits him easily has 30 pounds on the forward and knocks Alex out cold. The Sabres win the game.

A news article is released that talks about how sports analysts dislike how Connor formed his team. They don’t know that his team is perfect for his plan. The same reporter publishes an article praising Dylan and Jack as the best centre combo in the league. Connor see’s that Mitch had retweeted it and commented on the article says how proud he was that the world was seeing how good of a player Dylan is. Later Connor sees a clip of an interview of Mitch reiterating those words. Something shifts inside Connor’s mind, maybe his plan should be changed. The reporter is fired and never works a day in Journalism again.

On February 27 2018, the Edmonton Oilers play the Toronto Maple Leaf’s at the ACC. Mitch bounds up to him during warmups to remark how great it is that Dylan is thriving at the top of the points race. Connor needs to stop this narrative and he knows how he going to do it. Just three seconds shy of the 17th minute in the 3rd period of the game, a fourth liner from the Edmonton Oilers lays a dirty hit. Mitch Marner sits out the rest of the season as a result of a concussion and a tibia broken in three places. The Oilers win the game, everything is going to plan.

On March 4 2018, less than a week after Mitch gets hurt, the reigning Cup Champs host the Edmonton Oilers. Connor gives an interview saying that this game will decide who is truly number 1. The way that Connor says those words and the look he gives the camera makes Dylan uncomfortable. Jack hears about this when asked in a pregame interview, he says that he is more than willing to let Connor try to get his title back, the words feel weak on this tongue. When Dylan sees Connor during warmups he can’t describe the feeling that it given him. Connor looks at Dylan with a blank stare, no trace of emotion dancing behind his features. This time when Jack takes the opening faceoff he doesn’t make a slight against the man across from him, Jack doesn’t know what would happen to him if he did. Part way through the first period a rookie checks Jack straight into the edge of the glass, sheds his gloves and wails punched at Jacks head. The officials wait just a little too long to get involved. Jack Eichel’s hockey career ends as a result of a dislocated vertebrae in his neck as it is slammed down onto the boards.

Prior to the start of the second period multiple people ask Dylan if he wants to play. Dylan can’t leave his team out to dry, he has a bad feeling about how this game will end. As Dylan skates up to take the draw, Connor makes a quip about Jack so quiet that only Dylan could hear. When Dylan looks up he sees a sickening smirk on the other man’s face. The arena is dead quiet as the puck is dropped to signify the start of the second period.

The second period ends without much fanfare, the Oilers are up by one and the only injury is a fourth liner that gets pushed into the boards weird. Many of the young Edmonton players give Dylan sympathetic looks as they skate by the Sabres bench, everyone on the ice knows that Dylan will not make it out of this game. Dylan has said too much against the player that saved Edmonton.

Before the Buffalo Sabres take the ice for the third period Dylan Strome addresses the room stating that no matter what happens on the ice he will be ok. Dylan does not need more innocent bystanders paying for his decision to defy and surpass the expectations of the boy he grew up next to. Prior to the puck drop, Connor slinks up to Dylan and whispers in his ear, “ I thought I would give you some time to play dress up as a franchise centre”. Dylan shivers and with shaky hands takes the opening draw. 

Connor McDavid knows he’s one of the best players to grace this planet and will not stand to be humiliated. Especially not by the boy who was made great by growing up next to him. In order to make sure everyone knows he does not tolerate this behaviour he will have to finish the last part of his plan himself. Connor McDavid has the world at his fingertips, by the end of the game the world would learn not to disrespect him. 

Near the end of the third period Dylan Strome lays bleeding out on centre ice from Connor McDavid’s skate blade to his carotid artery. The officials don’t stop play and prohibits any trainer from coming to save his life. 

Dylan Strome hated Connor McDavid and everything he stood for. His legacy would always be tied to the person would started his career and ultimately ended his life. Dylan Strome would be the last person to hate The Chosen One as everyone else knows what happens to people who hate the best hockey player in the world. 

Connor McDavid is untouchable, just as he wanted.


End file.
